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August 13, 2012

Raymond James, Wells Fargo Grab Morgan Stanley Teams

Wells’ FiNet also adds a team from Citizens Bank, as MSSB loses an IT exec

Both Raymond James (RJF) and Wells Fargo (WFC) have recruited teams of financial advisors from Morgan Stanley Smith Barney (MSSB), which saw its advisor headcount drop by more than 1,050 in the past year.

Raymond James said Monday that Vann Ashley Wilder Sr., and Van R. Martin joined its employee broker-dealer Raymond James & Associates, which is led by Tash Elwyn (left). They come on board with about $300 million in client assets and more than $1 million in yearly fees and commissions.

The team, also known as the Gables Legacy Group, will report to Frank Amigo, South Florida complex manager.

“We are delighted to have such a talented and well-respected team join Raymond James,” said Amigo, in a statement. “They have deep-rooted ties to the local community and a strong understanding of how to help their clients. We are very pleased they chose Raymond James to support their efforts and practice.”

A 38-year industry veteran, Wilder is a portfolio manager and wealth-management specialist who began his career at Reynolds in 1974 and joined Smith Barney in 1981. Martin has more than 10 years of industry experience and started work in the industry at PFS Investments, before joining Morgan Stanley Smith Barney in 2009.

Also on Monday, a former Morgan Stanley technology officer, Erwin Eichmann, left the wirehouse firm to join TheStreet.com, after 11 years negotiating deals for global wealth management, technology and operations.

Wells Fargo

On Thursday, Wells Fargo said it recruited two teams with combined assets of $225 million to join Financial Network, one of its independent channels. The practices, which are based in Connecticut and Utah, are now among nearly 550 practices with $56 billion in assets across the country that make up FiNet, according to Wells.

“These two practices reinforce the preference shift I’ve seen among large practices toward Wells Fargo Advisors Financial Network’s ‘one-of-a-kind’ business model, which offers financial advisors large-scale resources to serve their clients while still having the autonomy to be small-business owners,” said Kent Christian, president of FiNet, in a press release.

In St. George, Utah, the Schofield Group Investment Management team of Richard and Dustin Schofield joined Wells from Morgan Stanley. The father-and-son team has 35 years of combined experience in the financial services industry and manages more than $128 million in assets.

“We chose Wells Fargo Advisors Financial Network because it allows our team the opportunity to be associated with a company that has the attributes of both an independent and wirehouse model combined,” said Dustin Schofield, vice president at the practice, in a release. “Starting our own practice and knowing that we have the support of such a large and recognizable broker-dealer was also important for us in transitioning to the independent channel.”

Moving to FiNet in Uncasville, Conn., is the JayPex Financial Group, which includes advisors Jayme Lemaire and Jamie Nowakowski. The two have 18 years of combined experience in the financial services industry and joined FiNet from Citizens Bank.

JayPex Financial Group has $1.1 million in production and more than $96 million in assets under management.

“We are pleased to open the doors to our new business in collaboration with Wells Fargo Advisors Financial Network, and we look forward to the honor of providing our clients with a broader depth of financial solutions than we believe we have been able to offer in the past,” Lemaire said in a press release.

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